


The First and His Last

by costsofregret



Category: Supernatural, Supernatural RPF
Genre: M/M, spn j2 xmas exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 08:32:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2844662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/costsofregret/pseuds/costsofregret
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A traumatic event reveals the fate of First Alpha Jared Padalecki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First and His Last

He died at 8:59am.  
  
The screaming sounds of the machines became white noise as Jared stood just inside the off white plastic curtains. Doctors and nurses hovered over Jensen’s body, poking and prodding, attaching machines as if he were some type of cyborg. Jared stared as the paddles slammed against Jensen’s chest, heard the shouts of “clear” and “again.”  
  
“Sir, you have to leave.”  
  
Jared glanced down at the hand on his arm. It was simply a hand, disconnected from the rest of the body, from the voice. Everybody in the world was a collection of parts at that moment – the only fully embodied person lay dead on the table in front of him.  
  
“I can’t.” It was a quiet declaration but the hand didn’t budge. “I can’t.” He repeated the words this time as a command and finally looked up into the kind eyes of the woman. He saw her surprised recognition. He saw the moment she realized she was touching the First Alpha.  
  
She backed up slowly and bowed her head.  
  
“Push some more ephie!” The doctor’s calm authority seemed out of place in the cacophony of beeps and stressed breaths.  
  
“Save him, Misha.” Jared’s voice cut through the sounds and the doctor glanced up. They had been friends, the three of them, since they were barely able to walk. Misha knew what he was responsible for in that moment. The future of the pack rested on him saving this one life. Everyone knew that without Jensen, Jared was gone as well, if not in body most definitely in soul.  
  
“Jared.” He turned to see the chief police officer standing near him. Chief Morgan nodded towards the waiting area. “We need to talk about what happened. Let them do their job, okay?”  
  
He shook his head. He couldn’t leave. Jared knew that Jensen would come back. Had to come back. And if he came back and Jared was gone? How could he do that to him?  
  
“You have to leave, Jared.” Morgan was one of the very few who had the right to touch the Alpha and he did, gently maneuvering him away.  
  
“Where else could I be?” Jared wondered aloud and it was a question far deeper than place.  
  
“We got him!” Misha yelled out as the flatline slowly crept back up. It was the most beautiful song Jared had ever heard.  
  
Jensen came back at 9:01am.  
  
Jared moved toward the bed but Morgan stopped him short. “We should let them work.”  
  
Jared’s hand hovered in the air. “I have to…”  
  
Misha glanced over and shook his head. “Jared, let me fix this. You’re a distraction, not an assistant, okay?” He nodded at the nurse who grabbed the curtain and pulled, closing Jared off from the scene.  
  
“I need your statement.” Morgan again pulled on Jared’s elbow and this time he went. He followed the chief out into the waiting area and saw his parents standing off to the side. Jensen’s father came forward, his face red with anger.  
  
“Don’t.” Morgan pushed the older man back. “You know I’d have to bring you in.  Calm down.”  
  
“What did you do to my boy?” Ackles huffed out and Jared’s parents moved to stand near Jared. His father, the former First Alpha, stood tall next to his son. He leveled a glare at Ackles.  
  
“Your son is lucky….”  
  
“Stop.” Jared spoke softly but the word was edged in steel. The Ackles and Padaleckis had a turbulent history and never really approved of his and Jensen’s friendship. And until last night, he and his best friend had been able to ignore their animosity. That was until Jensen’s father had announced his son’s engagement to Danneel Harris, the First Alpha of the Harris pack. It was a coup of major proportions for the Ackles family and one guaranteed to move them out of the pack and into a vaulted place in the Harris empire.  
  
The horror of Jensen’s situation had blinded him to his shock but as he remembered the previous night he was thrown back into that pain.  
  
 _“What?” Jared was stunned. He stared at the Ackles as they all gathered together in the front foyer. It was the Annual Festival of the First. Generally big announcements, such as engagements, pregnancies, births, were reserved for this night. It was a gala to celebrate the pack’s wealth of spirit._  
  
 _“That’s right. My boy here will be marrying Danneel Harris this spring. We are beyond joyous with the news.” The older Ackles beamed as the town murmured, half in shock and half in horror. This announcement meant that the Ackles were disenfranchising themselves from the town. Jared glanced around the room and saw the sadness in Camille DuPont’s eyes as she stared over at the youngest, Mackenzie, who had been her best friend since infancy and according to all the town’s rumors, the love of Camille’s life._  
  
 _Jared then brought his gaze back around and let it fall on Jensen. His best friend. His confidant. And yes, the love of his life. He’d never said the words. He couldn’t. Jensen was a Second Omega. He would never be accepted as the mate to the First Alpha and so Jared had spent that last fifteen years of his thirty years denying himself. When he’d been named First Alpha, after his father had reached the changing year, he’d fought hard to decline it. He’d even begged his mother to help him. She was the only one who knew what Jensen meant to him. Even Jensen didn’t know. But obligation, the town’s future, everything was dependent on the smooth transition between the Firsts. The last time a First had declined the title the war had separated the pack – it was the time when the Harris’s left and started their own lineage._  
  
 _Jared watched Jensen, who smiled tightly. He recognized the expression. It was the one he always wore when he battled with his father. It was the smile of rebellion stalled._  
  
 _“How dare you?” Jared’s father stormed through the crowd and stood in front of the Ackles. “Are you refusing us? Are you disowning your people?”_  
  
 _“Father.” Jared stepped up and placed himself between the two men. “Let’s take this somewhere else.”_  
  
 _“We no longer bow to you, Padalecki.” Ackles sneered._  
  
 _The room gasped. No one but his inner circle called the First Alpha by anything other than Alpha. It was a long held tradition. “You walk a thin line, sir.” Jared warned. “Until that ring is placed on his hand and he is branded a Harris, you are still in my pack. You still ‘bow’ to my authority. Understood?”_  
  
 _The fight left Ackles for a moment. He knew the truth, but he had been very bitter about their Second rank for years. At one point before the war, the Ackles had been a First line. “As you wish, Alpha.”  The submission was filled with resentment and antipathy._  
  
 _“Father.” Jensen came forward and stood between his father and Jared. “The Alpha is correct. Let’s take this somewhere private.” He glanced up at Jared, who thanked him with the silent language they had made between themselves, their eyes meeting in quiet agreement._  
  
 _Both families moved to the first floor library. It had been shut off during the festival. The First Mansion belonged to the town and as such, the celebration occupied all of its rooms, except the library. It was the archive for the town and the pack and was considered a sacred room. Jared nodded at the guard. “Leave us.” The guard obeyed, shutting the door on his way out._  
  
 _Jared turned and saw his mother off to the side. She looked at him with a mixture of pride and pity._  
  
 _Jensen caught and held his gaze and Jared noted the slight smirk, the familiar ‘everything is gonna  be okay’ expression that Jensen gave him all of the time, especially as the duties and responsibilities of his position would overwhelm him. Jensen was always there to tell him it would work out. How could he run the pack without his best friend? The question triggered his anger. He turned to Jensen’s father._  
  
 _“This marriage will not happen.” Jared’s voice shook slightly. He knew he was betraying his rage but the thought of Jensen leaving the pack, marrying someone else, was too much. He knew the Harrises. Hell, he even liked Danneel, but she didn’t get to have Jensen. No._  
  
 _“The contract has already been signed.” Ackles protested._  
  
 _Jared looked at Jensen in shock. “You signed it?”_  
  
 _Jensen was about to talk when his father interrupted. “He didn’t need to. I’m still the leader of this family and as such I have the power to determine my children’s futures.”_  
  
 _“So you signed your son away without his consent?” Jared’s rage doubled. He knew that Jensen and Danneel were friends. They’d been at college together when Jared was in his First training. He’d never resented their friendship and even when Jensen had told him the two had indulged in a summer long tryst, he’d bit his tongue and joked about Jensen shagging a possible First._  
  
 _“They will make a good couple, Alpha. And there will be strong children for the Ackles line. I want this.”_  
  
 _Jared imagined the children in that moment. He saw them in his mind. He saw the laughing Jensen as he played with them, their redheads gleaming in that make believe sun. He ached for that. He wanted that with Jensen. He wanted those children to be theirs. He wanted that happy future. Why did Harris get to have what was his?_  
  
 _He shook his head, trying to dislodge the image. “No. No.” He felt a hand lay on his shoulder and he looked up to find Jensen next to him._  
  
 _“Jared. I have to…it’s my family.” Jensen’s eyes were clear but the sheen gave away his pain. He knew what this meant. This meant the end of them._  
  
 _“I’m your family.” Jared whispered._  
  
 _Jensen lifted his hand and laid it on the Alpha’s cheek. “You’re not and you never can be.” Jensen spoke the words that had been between them for so long. “You can never be.”_  
  
 _Jared bowed his head, feeling the tears pricking behind his eyes._  
  
 _“We need a few minutes alone.” Jensen nodded toward the door. No one moved._  
  
 _“Leave.” Jared barked out and he didn’t look up as the room emptied. He didn’t move until he heard the door click._  
  
 _“Such a girl.” Jensen teased. It was an old tactic. He’d joke Jared back into his Alpha._  
  
 _“This can’t happen.”_  
  
 _“It’s happening, Jared. He signed me over. That’s it. But you know this might be a good thing, right? We’re friends. You like Danneel. Maybe this is a new era.” Jensen stepped away. He ran a hand over the glass case that held the History of the Firsts. It was the most prized possession in the library and Jared would write the events of the year in it tomorrow, as the final ceremony of the festival._  
  
 _“I can’t write this down in there, Jensen. I can’t. Don’t do this.”_  
  
 _Jensen didn’t look up. He stared through the glass at the leather bound journal. It was a tome and a tomb. “When we were about eight, I think? I came in here by accident. You were out rolling around with Misha, playing some stupid game. I was trying to find a water pistol. I was going to stop y’all because I was really mad that you were playing without me. I ran in here and bumped into the case and knocked it off the stand. I was so scared. Glass was all over the place. I knew I was dead. Did I ever tell you that?”_  
  
 _Jared shook his head._  
  
 _Jensen laughed. “Well yeah, of course your father found me and instead of yelling at me, he pushed me back and picked up the big pieces of glass. Warned me not to step on the small pieces. I was crying and apologizing and begging him not to tell my dad. He was really so kind. A few minutes passed and he picked up the book then you know what? He placed it in my hands. He let me hold it.”_  
  
 _Jared was shocked. The book was only ever to be touched by the First and his mate._  
  
 _“Right? Incredible. I am the only Second Omega to ever hold the History. He explained what it was and how important the pack’s line was. He showed me the entries going all the way back. It was…” Jensen stopped and turned to stare at Jared. “It was the best kind of gift, Jared. He showed me the writings about the births, the wars, the marriages. And I was so excited because I was telling him how one day he’d write our marriage in there. You and me. We’d be in the book. I remember babbling about how it didn’t matter that you and Misha were outside without me because you were mine forever.”_  
  
 _Jared brought his hands up and covered his face. He rubbed his palms against his eyes, trying to stop the tears. “Don’t.”_  
  
 _Jensen took his hands and held them. They stood there, fingers building a bridge over the case. “He told me he could never write that down in the book, Jared.”_  
  
 _“Don’t.” Jared begged again._  
  
 _Jensen moved one hand up and laid it on Jared’s cheek. “He said that you were meant to be the First. That you would be our next leader and you would need a mate who could stand next to you. He was kind, Jared. He said that I could love you forever but I could never be written in the book with you. And you know what?”_  
  
 _Jared refused to look at him. He dropped his head but Jensen was insistent. He gently pushed Jared’s face up so that their eyes could meet. “Jared, I will love you forever. But this?” He placed his hand on the case and Jared watched the journal disappear behind his fingers. “This can never tell the story of us.”_  
  
 _“Fuck that.” Jared yelled and pushed away from the case. “Why? Why? Tell me.”_  
  
 _“Because we have our roles. We have our duties. And you belong to more than me. I can’t….I won’t compromise you. So I’ll marry her. I’ll give her a good life. And you’ll find a strong mate and we’ll rebuild all of those fences that our fathers broke, okay?”_  
  
 _“At the cost of what? If you leave, Jensen, you can never come back. It’s over. You will no longer be one of us.”_  
  
 _Jensen huffed in frustration. “I know, okay? But it is what is…”_  
  
 _Jared saw Jensen starting to lose his resolve and could tell he was closing up. It was the place Jensen always went to when he faced conflict. He’d shut down and do his duty. Jared couldn’t handle that Jensen because that Jensen was closed off to him._  
  
 _“Don’t you dare do that!” Jared rushed over to Jensen and grabbed his arms. “You don’t get to … You can’t.” He couldn’t find the words. He could only shake Jensen, who stared up at him through sad but determined eyes._  
  
 _The fight left Jared suddenly as he made his decision. “I’ll give it up.”_  
  
 _“What?” Jensen stared at him dumbly._  
  
 _“I’ll give it up. The First.” He turned to leave. Most of the town was still in the mansion so he could do this. He knew the law. He would have to publicly declare his refusal and name his successor. He thought about his brother and sighed. He would have to learn quickly but he could do it. Jared was certain._  
  
 _“Oh hell no!” Jensen ran and stepped in between Jared and the door. “What are you doing? You will outcast yourself!”_  
  
 _The refusal of the First carried a price, Jared knew. He would have to leave the town and never return. It was to preserve continuity of line and not encourage tribal warfare. Two Firsts cannot live in the same pack. “You’re leaving so I’m leaving. Simple.”_  
  
 _“We’re not kids anymore, Jared! You have a pack. You have responsibilities. Why am I always the one to remind you of this?”_  
  
 _Jared laughed. The caustic sound reverberated through the library. “See? What good am I if you aren’t around? I can’t…I just can’t.” He pushed at Jensen’s arms but the other man wouldn’t budge. Their foreheads rested against each other’s._  
  
 _“Jared…Don’t do this.”_  
  
 _“I can’t let you go, Jensen. You get that, right? You know I love you….you have to know that. I don’t give a fuck what the book says, what the law says. You’re my mate. I won’t do this without you. I can’t.” He linked their fingers together and nudged Jensen’s nose. Heat and lust slammed through him. He could smell Jensen’s scent. He remembered the first time he’d caught the scent when they were about 12 and Jensen had been sent off to a relative’s for the summer. He’d buried himself in his best friend’s abandoned hoodie for days. Even his father had remarked on how strong the boy’s scent was. Jared had secretly wished for Jensen to come home and lay there with him forever.  Jensen had always been the fragrance of home._  
  
 _“I know…but you have to.”_  
  
 _“You always say that, you know? We don’t have to do anything, Jensen. We should do things. We could do things. But we don’t have to do them.”_  
  
 _“My family….” Jensen murmured._  
  
 _“I’m your family too….”_  
  
 _“No, Jared. You’re  my everything. You are my….” Jensen’s voice broke and he pushed away. “Don’t. Just don’t. I can’t do this with you. It’s gonna end like it should, okay? Maybe reincarnation is real. Maybe in the next life we’ll get our timing and ranking right. I don’t know. But here and now?” He looked at Jared and pled. “Just stop, okay?”_  
  
 _“No. I won’t. If you do this, then ….” Jared threw his hands out. “If you do this, Jensen, then you destroy me. I can’t imagine my future without you. I don’t care if I’m the First. I don’t care what that means because it means nothing if you’re not there with me. I don’t know what else I can say to you. I love you. I loved you before I was born. I’ll love you after I die.”_  
  
 _He turned and walked across the room. He grabbed the keys that dangled from an ancient hook on the wall. Jensen stood still as Jared  opened the case and brought out the book. He walked over and set it against Jensen’s chest. “Take this.”_  
  
 _Jensen shook his head, keeping his hands close to his side. “Jared. Stop.”_  
  
 _He shook the book and its leather cover cracked quietly with the motion. “Hold it, Jensen. I’m your Alpha. Do as I command.”_  
  
 _Jensen winced but then lifted his head in defiance. “You know what that means, Alpha. Stop it now.”_  
  
 _“Answer me a question, Second Omega.” Jared’s voice dripped with sarcasm._  
  
 _“Yes, Alpha?” The response was loaded with insolence._  
  
 _Jared didn’t let go of the book but leaned in, the leather pushing into his chest, acting as a wall between him and Jensen. He moved his lips close to Jensen’s ear. The other man shivered and Jared felt the stirrings of arousal against his leg. “Imagine tomorrow.” Jared whispered, his breath hot against Jensen’s neck._  
  
 _Jensen moaned. “Why?”_  
  
 _“Close your eyes and do it, Omega.”_  
  
 _“As you wish, Alpha.” Jensen turned his head slightly so Jared could see him as he closed his eyes. His submission was seducing._  
  
 _“Now what?” Jensen taunted._  
  
 _“Now imagine me not there.” Jared’s words were sharp, meant to cut and make Jensen bleed._  
  
 _“Fuck you.” Jensen opened his eyes. He tried to move but Jared’s body held him against the wall. The book still between them._  
  
 _“Take it.” Jared said again but this time he let his desperation show._  
  
 _“Do you know what you’re doing, Jared? What you’re asking? You know as soon as we both touch that book, we are bound together. You would take our worlds down with this marriage.” Jensen reached up and placed his fingers over Jared’s lips, tracing the outline of the full mouth. “You know I would give almost anything I have to be able to kiss these lips for the rest of my life. I used to pretend that…..”_  
  
 _“Pretend what?”_  
  
 _“I used to pretend that you’d give it up for me. That you’d refuse the First and we’d run away together to some far off city where no one cared about Firsts and Seconds….Like such a place exists, right?” Jensen chuckled cynically. “We’d be together wherever ‘there’ was and spend our lives doing who knows what but it wouldn’t matter because we’d be together. It was a child’s dream, Jared. We’re not kids anymore.”_  
  
 _“Stop saying that. My feelings are not some kind of youthful indiscretion, Jensen. I’ve loved you for too many years. My love is old.”_  
  
 _Jensen stared down at the book between them. “Do you realize what you’d lose? I’m not worth that price. I’m a Second Omega from a family filled with wannabes.” He looked up at Jared. “You place way too high a value on me.”_  
  
 _“I don’t think I value you enough. I should’ve done this a long time ago.” He pulled one hand from the book. He reached down and clasped Jensen’s hand. Quietly and gently he lifted it and their fingers hovered near the leather. “Do this with me, Jensen. Do it for me, Omega.”_  
  
 _“That’s not fair, Jared. You know….”_  
  
 _“I know you’d do anything for me? Yeah, I do. And I’m a bastard for doing it like this. We should be able to speak it in public. We should be able to walk out that door and announce to the world that we are mates. And by whatever is holy in this world, I will make it so that we can and we will. But any good I can do has to be with you by my side, Jensen.”_  
  
 _“Jared…if we do this.”_  
  
 _Jared smiled at his best friend. His love. And in a few moments, his mate. “When we do this, I’ll take care of the fallout. Trust me?”_  
  
 _“More than anything or anyone.”_  
  
 _“Then do this with me.” Jared repeated. He didn’t move his hand. Jensen had to be the one to make this real._  
  
 _“Jensen! Open up! Alpha!” Jared turned his head and saw the door move with the pounding. Jensen’s father was turning the door knob. Jared felt the opportunity slipping away. He turned back and met Jensen’s gaze. Jensen’s hand slowly fell away from Jared’s._  
  
 _“Jensen.” Jared sighed in disappointment. This was it._  
  
 _“What are you boys doing in there?” Jared heard his father’s voice and he lowered his head. They’d been so close._  
  
 _The door opened and Jared watched as the families began to pile into the library. He knew he could stop them but at that point it seemed useless. It was all lost. He turned back to Jensen._  
  
 _“You better be right, Alpha.” Jensen growled as he brought up both hands and laid them on Jared’s. He pushed forward and their lips crashed together. Now Jared knew the legends but he’d often disregarded them as old wives’ tales. Back in the ancient days there had been stories of soulbinding. The stories were taken as myth these days since no one alive in the last few centuries had experienced such a thing._  
  
 _Jared was not prepared for the wave of energy that rushed through him. He barely heard the gasps of the other occupants as Jared let go of the book. It stayed there, floating between them. Light flashed across the room and then sparked around the two of them. Jared brought his hands up and tugged Jensen further into the kiss as the room spun.  It felt like the boundaries of the universe collided into his soul and right there, in the core of his spirit, he knew Jensen. Had a knowledge of him that was so deep and penetrating and real that he lost his breath. Everything that Jensen is and was and would be existed inside his body. Somewhere in the book was written..._  
  
 _“And in the binding all the dimensions will be unguarded and the two lovers shall understand the world through each other, with each other, and in each other for all their lives that were and all the lives that will be….”_  
  
 _Jared ignored the screams and yells from their families. It was only when the moments had passed and he stood there, depleted and yet energized, did he realize he was holding onto an unconscious Jensen. His mate’s body was limp and bent at an awkward angle._  
  
 _“Jensen?”_  
  
 _There was no response._  
  
 _Jared screamed as he held Jensen close to his chest. “Jensen!”_  
  
 _Jared rocked Jensen and tried reviving him as his father sprang into action. He didn’t know how much time had passed before he sensed the EMTs prying Jensen from him. He cried out at the disconnect, not knowing how to be a part from his mate. It was a physical pain._  
  
 _He caught snippets of the conversation as he followed Jensen and the EMTs into the driveway._  
  
 _… “not sure what happened”…_  
 _….”your boy killed my boy”…._  
 _….”oh my god, I think that was a soulbinding”…._  
 _….”he’s gonna pay for this”…._  
  
 _No one stopped Jared as he climbed into the ambulance. He was bent over with his head in his hands as he prayed for Jensen. Prayed to whom or whatever he could to make sure his mate survived._  
  
“What happened, Jared?” Morgan’s voice interrupted his memories.  
  
“Huh?” Jared was still exhausted and confused.  
  
“Honey?” His mother sat down next to him and took his hand. He still felt the tingle and numbness of his binding. He winced as their skin came into contact. She shushed him and gently soothed his hand. “Baby? Was that….”  
  
“A binding.” His father supplied quietly. “That was a binding.”  
  
“What?!” Ackles shouted. “What do you mean a binding? That’s crap for romance novels, Alpha.”  
  
“Momma?” Jared looked at his mother and didn’t know what to do. He just wanted to be in there with Jensen. “I need to…” He started to get up and go toward the door.  
  
She held him back. “You can’t, baby. He’s still in surgery, okay?”  
  
“Why is he in surgery? What is happening? I don’t understand….” He’d been so full just an hour ago and now so empty that he ached in places he didn’t know could exist in him. “I need to be…I can’t.”  
  
Ackles looked him over with disdain. “Some First you are, crying like a child who lost his puppy.”  
  
Jared’s rage bubbled to the surface and he lunged toward the older man. He grabbed him and his father pulled at him as he spit out, “You will not talk to me, your Alpha, that way. Nor will you call MY MATE, a puppy.”  
  
Ackles was frozen in fear as Jared continued. “That’s right. Your contract is null and void, old man. Jensen is mine. Always has been mine. We were made in the same spirit, same soul. He’s mine.”  
  
“Come on, Jared. Let go.” He paused a few seconds before heeding his father’s request. He pushed Ackles back and went to sit again with his mother.  
  
“You’ll fix this.” Ackles muttered at him as he straightened his suit. “Always knew they were bad for each other,” he murmured to no one in particular.  
  
Jared made to get up again but his father’s hand stopped him. “Another time, Jared. Your mate is more important now.”  
  
“My mate.” Jared repeated the word and he let the happiness rest inside him for a moment. “My mate.” He smiled up at his father, who looked at him with a combination of respect, pride, and concern. “What?”  
  
“You’ve done something remarkable today, son. But it’s not gonna be an easy road. For either of you.”  
  
“But we’ll be together, so….” He looked around for Jensen, forgetting for a minute that Jensen was lying on a table in the surgery ward, clinging to his life. “We’ll be together, right?” He asked his father, knowing he sounded like a child but not caring. He needed someone to reassure him.  
  
His father laid a hand on his shoulder. “He’ll be fine. I know it.”  
  
They stayed that way for a while. Time ticked by and as the hours drew on, Jared became more and more anxious.  
  
“Where is Misha?” Jared asked for what seemed the millionth time. He was about to raid the nurses’ station again when Misha walked into the waiting area. Jared bounced up and met him halfway.  
  
“How is he? What happened? When can I see him?”  
  
Misha raised his hands. “Hold up there, Alpha. One question at a time. First, by procedure, I have to talk to the family….”  
  
Jared interrupted. “I’m his mate.”  
  
Misha bowed back a little. “What?”  
  
“I’m his mate. There was the book and then a soulbinding...whatever. Tell me.” Jared ordered impatiently.  
  
“Well, okay.” He nodded toward the family and then returned his attention to Jared. “It seems Jensen had a small hole in his heart. Something triggered a massive cardiac episode. I’m assuming that would be the legendary soulbinding if my mythology classes were correct. Anyway, it’s actually fortunate it happened this way. We may never have known it otherwise and the poor guy could’ve just died when he was running the track or even when he was asleep if we hadn’t caught it.”  
  
“Did you fix him?”  
  
“Yeah, Jared.” Misha reached out and patted his arm. “We fixed him. He should be fine with rest, no stress, other therapy, and of course, follow up.”  
  
Jared closed his eyes in relief and the room began to swim.  
  
“Hey there, Alpha.” Misha guided him toward a seat. “You need to get some rest too. If I recall, soulbinding can leave you burnt for days.”  
  
“Can I see him?”  
  
Misha hesitated. “Jared, he’s in recovery….”  
  
“Please.”  
  
The doctor sighed. “Yeah, of course. Let me take you back there. You’ll have to wear some protective clothing so we don’t risk infection. That we definitely can’t have, but you can be with him for a bit.”  
  
Jared followed Misha as he took him to the recovery area. He donned his garb and took his place by Jensen’s bedside. He laid his head on the side of the bed and finally let the past day’s events play in his mind. He cried silently with pain and relief. He clutched Jensen’s hand and laced their fingers together.  
  
“My mate.” He whispered.  
  
No one disturbed him as he fell asleep in that pose.  
  
******  
  
“I can walk by myself, you know?”  
  
Jared threw a side eye glance at Jensen as they wandered through the garden. The First’s estate was expansive and Jared had not enjoyed the garden as much as he had this past year during Jensen’s recovery. People milled about as the Annual Celebration was closing up.  
  
“Hey, come here.” Jensen motioned toward the hidden rows of blooming flowers behind the wall. They snuck through them and both of them were laughing as Jensen brought Jared in for a long and steamy kiss.  
  
“Tonight.” Jared promised.  
  
“Better not flake on me, Alpha. I have needs and stuff.”  
  
“Needs and stuff?” Jared laughed. They held hands as they moved closer to the house. Only a few people turned to look but Jared ignored them.  
  
They entered the mansion and headed toward the library. Jared stopped at the door. He had not been inside since that night a year ago. He’d written the announcements in the book at Jensen’s bedside last year. And when Jensen had come home, Jared had made a point to avoid the library at all costs, fearing what happened there as much as he was grateful for what happened there.  
  
“It’s okay.” Jensen smiled at him and tugged at his hand. “We can do this.”  
  
Jensen opened the door and motioned for the guard to leave. He did so immediately.  
  
The book was laid neatly in the glass case, as it had been for the last year. Jensen grabbed the keys and nodded toward the old desk that all Firsts use to write at. Jared took his seat and Jensen retrieved the book. He placed it on the brightly polished mahogany and opened it to the last page written on. Jared noted that his words from last year were short and succinct. He’d not wanted to do that duty because his whole being had been focused on Jensen and Jensen’s well-being. This year he would be a better leader.  
  
He grabbed the pen and dunked it into the ink. It was an ancient ritual, one that he had no desire to change.  
  
Jensen stood at his elbow as he began to write. He’d thought long and hard about what the first entry would be, as it was the one that was most important.  
  
He wrote the words and didn’t look up when he heard Jensen chuckle. Sitting back, he considered the entry.  
  
 _The First Alpha Jared Padalecki soul bonded with Second Omega Jensen Ackles._  
  
“Let me.” Jensen grabbed the pen and dunked it into the ink. He bent across Jared and wrote his own entry. Jared leaned his head on Jensen’s shoulder, not caring about protocol, knowing that his mother had written in this book herself.  
  
Jared smiled when he saw the addition. “Perfect.”  
  
 _The First found His Last._


End file.
